Coffee: Your secret sponsorship weapon

The one thing that will pry me away from my cosy home office is the promise of coffee and I know I’m not alone.

I shared something from Ramit Sethi on the Racing Mentor Facebook community page. It was from the I Will Teach You To Be Rich newsletter, which is very relevant to racing drivers. It gave an example of an email Ramit opened in 30 seconds and shows that coffee is key but not the clincher.

Busy people receive so many coffee invitations a day and while they’re all very tempting, we don’t have the time or caffeine tolerance to accept every one.

Coffee is a powerful tool for grabbing someone’s attention and getting them to agree to a meeting but you need to have a hook.

I’ve been experimenting with this so I can pass on my findings so I’ll let you know what works but the key is to keep it short and sweet. Find a hook that’s relevant to the person you’re contacting. For Michelle, she knew Ramit would be interested in a persuasive technology project, she also has the added power of two mutual contacts.

Building your network so you have these kinds of contacts is really important but we’ll touch on that at another time.

Coffee?

The call-to-action is so important. In Michelle’s email, she gives two dates where she’ll be free. This avoids all sorts of back and forth trying to find a time that suits, but she’s also showed she’d willing to be flexible.

Give dates and times when you can meet but make it clear that you’re happy to be flexible.

Task: send an invitation

If you have a great pitch email but are struggling to get replies, this could be your secret weapon. Give it a try today.

You should also try leveraging some of your existing contacts. Either invite them for coffee to see if they can put you in touch with someone or ask for recommendations from friends. You can then email these recommended people saying that a mutual connection suggested you get in touch and that you’d like to take them for coffee.

Tailored advice to help you find sponsors

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